For its delicate tone, provocative themes, impeccable craftsmanship and superb performances-by Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Keira Knightley-Never Let Me Go earned my great admiration. I wish I'd been affected in equal measure, but I wasn't, and it's not the sort of film you can will yourself to enjoy.

Parents need to know that this romantic drama with sci-fi elements (which is based on the book by Kazuo Ishiguro) is probably too offbeat to appeal to most teens, and its premise -- (possible spoiler alert) that the young people it follows have been speciallybred to provide "spare parts" for "real" people -- is quite unsettling. As the main characters grow from preteens to teens to twentysomethings, they talk and think a great deal about love and sex (there's some partial female nudity) before finally experiencing these things first hand ... and then things get even more complicated. There's very little language or violence, but the overall tone is sinister and depressing.

Families can talk about how the movie depicts sex. The characters are very curious about sex. Do they learn about it in healthy ways?

Do you think the movie's overall message is positive or negative? Why?

The good stuff

Messages: The essential idea behind the movie is that life, any life, is valuable. The characters learn empathy and kindness toward each other and only experience trouble when true love gets in the way of their destinies. Eventually the characters learn that, even though they may only have a short time on earth, their experiences are just as important as those with much longer lives.

Role models: The main character, Kathy, is a sad creature; she seems lonely and lost and always somewhat aware of everything she's missed in life. She's not very active and really hasn't much choice in anything. Eventually she experiences a brief moment of real love and learns to appreciate it; she understands that even a brief moment, fully lived, is worth a lifetime.

What to watch for

Violence: There's some anger and raging, and a boy accidentally slaps a girl. Also a couple of somewhat gory hospital scenes. And there's a general sense of unease around the lives of these young people, who are trapped within the rules of a sinister organization.

Sex: At all of the three different ages they're shown -- preteens, teens, and twentysomethings -- these characters think and talk a great deal about sex. The preteensfall in love, hold hands, kiss, wonder about sex, and pine for eachother. As teens, they actually do have sex (there's moaning and onepartial naked breast), and they ponder the meaning of an adultrelationship. A teen girl also looks through a nudie magazine that has several photos of naked female breasts.

Language: "Oh my God."

Consumerism: Teens order Cokes in a diner.

Drinking, drugs and smoking: Some cigarettes are found on the school grounds, and there's speculation that some of the preteens may have smoked them.

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